As semiconductor and integrated circuit technology has advanced, there has been a trend toward high-functionality integrated circuit components with numerous input and output (I/O) pins. Consequently, as integrated circuits get smaller, they increasingly have smaller I/O pads arranged more closely together than ever before.
To match these integrated circuits, there is a demand for printed wiring boards (PWBs) to match the footprint of these integrated circuits with closely arranged solder pads. However, the miniaturization of the spacing between the pads on the IC is currently happening at a greater rate than the miniaturization of solder pads on printed circuit boards. Consequently, there is an interconnection technology gap for some modern devices.
To make such devices function, PWBs may require extra routing layers to attach to the pads of the integrated circuits, or utilize fan-out packaging. This results in the package size of an integrated circuit being larger than the integrated circuit itself, which may limit system miniaturization. As such, additional methods of connecting integrated circuits to printed circuit boards are needed.